Chapter 6: Puzzles Everywhere
When I didn't dream, my consciousness seemed to split into resting mind and resting body. I knew this because I could feel warm dog-smelling weights pushing me into a warm dog cacoon of sleep that I never wanted to leave. Also, I could both feel and hear someone- no, two people approaching, and my body gradually brought my mind back to reality as it asked who was approaching me with such intensity.
"Looks comfortable. I would join em', but they would probably chew on me." A lower voice wistfully chuckled.
"AREN'T YOU ALL SUPPOSED TO BE ON DUTY ELSEWHERE?!" Another voice shouted, scaring everybody awake. The dogs scattered, yelping, greater dog jumping into his suit headfirst and running away with his tail in the air. I jumped up onto my feet, my heart rate accelerating at the sudden awakening and the fact I was in a dangerous area with someone I would have to fight soon. I reflexively got into fighting stance, blinking groggily at two clothed skeletons looking at me. Papyrus announced in 'evil' pride, "RISE AND SHINE, HUMAN, THERE ARE MORE PUZZLES FOR YOU TO SOLVE! ALSO, YOU FELL INTO MY BROTHER SAN'S TRAP... TO KEEP YOU FROM PROGRESSING! NOW YOU WILL BE STUMPED NOW FOR SURE! NYEHEHEHEHE!" Papyrus jumped to impossible heights with his legs flailing, as if he was running on the air, landing out of sight.
"You got me, man." I mumbled to Sans, rubbing at the corner of my eyes and yawning.
"Who knew... all we needed to catch a human, was a skeleton of dog cuddles?" Sans grinned with his eyes.
"Thanks, by the way." I remembered to say, looking at the ground and realizing there were 4 bags of gold around me. What a way to start a morning.
"No prob. Y'know, I've been thinking of selling some treats myself. Want some grilled snow?" Sans shifted his weight onto one foot.
"Doesn't it have too much sentimental value to you?" I asked as I picked up the bags of gold. My hands were crusted in blood, but I could move them fine now. All my aches and pains were gone, just a little biting from the winter air that I was kind of getting used to.
"Yeesh, you're a tough customer."
"Ulna-ver defeat me." I muttered.
"That's tibia-nnounced." Sans retorted, turning and walking away, "I'll see you around, kid."
"See ya." I said with a challenging grin, waving. I dropped my hand when he was out of sight and felt a bit nervous because that was really the only clever bone pun I had, and I had basically declared war against a pun master. We are going to piss off Papyrus so much. I anticipated. I tried shoving the money pouches into my pockets but they were too large. I ended up tying the strings of the pouches to my belt loops instead and walked down the golf course. I found the giant snowball used as a golf ball and kicked it along the way. I managed to get it into the golf hole, and an orange flag rose out of it. A little note was attached to it, waving like a tiny flag. I took and read it. 'You are the kind of person who rushes fists-first through all obstacles.' Is this some kind of horoscope or fortune game?
I shrugged and continued down the pathway, where the bone brothers were waiting for me with a cleared space of snow before them, revealing icy rock.
"HUMAN! I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR-" Papyrus paused, "SANS! WHERE IS THE PUZZLE?!"
"It's right there. On the ground. Trust me, there's no way they can get past this one."
I was used to walking on icy ground, and carefully rested my weight on ones foot at a time until I picked up a frozen sheet of smeared ink that looked vaguely like a kid's word search puzzle. "I can't solve this." I said bluntly.
"See, it worked."
I stepped up to Papyrus, who yelled, "SANS! THAT DIDN'T STOP THEM AT ALL!"
"Whoops. I knew I should've used today's crossword instead."
"WHAT?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT! IN MY OPINION... JUNIOR JUMBLE IS EASILY THE HARDEST."
"Seriously, dude?"
"Is this cold?" I asked, reaching up and gently putting the side of the frozen paper against Papyrus's face. He was only a half a foot taller than me, really.
"I CANNOT FEEL THE COLD, HUMAN!"
"Dangit." I kicked some snow to the side as Papyrus went back to arguing with Sans as to what was harder- junior jumble or crossword. I wasn't really listening, a bit frustrated that Papyrus didn't freak out when they were supposed to be brothers and bones did indeed have blood vessels and nerves and Sans bled when he-
"HUMAN! SOLVE THIS DISPUTE!"
"Huh?" I asked.
"Which is harder? Crossword or junior jumble?" Sans asked.
"Junior jumble." I said immediately.
"HA! HA! HUMANS MUST BE VERY INTELLIGENT! IF THEY ALSO FIND JUNIOR JUMBLE SO DIFFICULT! NYEH! HEH! HEH HEH!" Papyrus ran off, leaving a 3-second maelstrom of snow flurries behind him. I stumbled and shivered a bit at the wind. I looked to Sans.
"Thanks for saying 'junior jumble' just to appease my brother. Yesterday he was stumped trying to 'solve' the horoscope." Sans said.
"Junior jumble is really hard. You can find so many words with so many letters." I said honestly.
"Crossword has synonyms for many of the same meanings."
"I can't look up meanings of jumbled up words on the internet."
"That's cheating."
"Well... uh... I actually kinda don't like word puzzles."
"That's weird."
"Says the skeleton."
"Says the only human in the underground."
"Touché." I walked past him with a pout, and earned a short chuckle. I felt myself gradually getting colder, and untied my bandage-sleeve from my arm. I winced because blood was making it stick to my skin. My fingers slowly separated the cloth from my skin as I found a table of frosty spaghetti and a microwave. I pried a meatball from the noodles, put it into one of the pouches tied onto my belt loops for a memo or to eat when it defrosted, and moved onwards, finally pulling the sleeve off my arm. I slipped it back onto my arm, only to stop when I realized there was a star glowing to my right. I went up to it and touched it. The throb from my skin disappeared, and my clothes mended back together. I felt more energy than that nap gave me. If I gather enough LOVE, will I actually be more awake for a long time than I feel now? Losing hp... it must make me sleepy somehow. Well... I won't ever find out. I'm not killing anybody. I won't kill Flowey either, even if I hate him... I daydreamed as I walked onwards, But I can't help but wonder... If I can't escape this world, should I just reset and kill everyone? I mean, IF I can reset... Funny, you can be the hero of the world and then end their happiness just as suddenly, and they are completely unable to remember it. You could kill their friends, torture them until they almost break, and then reset and carry on as usual. I wondered where the heck these thoughts were coming from. No... I wouldn't be able to carry on as usual... My conscience is way too powerful. I still bad about asking Sans how to quit when he was so happy... If I killed anybody on purpose, with my own hands... But I did kill them indirectly. Through Frisk. I was just curious, and I wanted to fight Sans, but... seeing as this world is real and I'm existing in it... does that mean I've already killed everyone in a different timeline? Oddly enough, I don't feel affected by it at all... weird. Maybe my conscience isn't as powerful as I thought. I should be-
"Bark bark!" I was so deep in thought that I never saw the lesser dog coming until a huge weight tackle-hugged me into the ground. I hit the snow hard enough to feel the rock underneath, and the snow-crash path we made covered us in snow. Lesser dog wagged his tail and licked my face.
"Ow! Sto-ahahaha!" I pushed the dog's licks away and looked around for a stick. I found a few underneath some pine trees and picked up the biggest one. I plucked out the pine needles and then waved it around. Lesser dog's head extended higher and higher until I threw the stick away from both of us. Lesser dog charged after it, his neck extending and snatching the stick before it hit the ground. He dropped the drool-covered stick in my hands and then ran off- to patrol elsewhere most likely. I waved goodbye and decided to hang onto the stick, thoroughly covered in snow. I brushed off what I could before I continued onwards.
I'm cold again... oh well... I wonder... Who feels the worse pain when they kill? The commander or the soldier that has to do it? I thought, my thoughts not so easily ignored after they had been interrupted. I even felt annoyed that the dog had interrupted my inner monologue... but he didn't mean any harm. I picked the healed scabs off of my hands. The soldier. I decided. Because they can stop themselves, their very souls are in danger... And the commander is safe, even if they are responsible. I kicked at the snow to find a map hidden underneath. I approached the spikes blocking the way and backed up, cutting my daydreams short. I jumped as high as I could... yeah, I could make it. I backed up a dozen more steps, and then charged forward, my steps shortening as I got closer until I sprang up with all my strength, my arms spread out like wings. My feet barely touched the tips of the spikes and I curled my feet up, not realizing that this wasn't the best idea until I landed on my butt.
"Owwww..." I got up unsteadily, rubbing my jarred back. I limped a bit to the middle of the area with two cross-marks in the snow. Dogamy and Dogaressa bounded up to me.
"What's this smell?"
"You smell familiar?
"You smell like the lost cuddly puppy!"
"I have a stick." I supplied helpfully.
"Throw the stick the stick throw the stick!" The Dogi howled in delight. I threw the stick out of sight, where a faint but familiar voice yelled, "OW! WHERE DID THIS STICK COME FROM?!"
"Oops." I said, blinking as the Dogi rushed off together. I followed them and found a puzzle with x's half surrounded by snow mounds. I saw the Dogi take the stick from Papyrus and bring it over to me. I took the stick and rubbed their heads.
"Dogs can pet other dogs? Wow!" Dogaressa said to Dogamy. The nuzzled with their snouts and ran off together.
"Sorry for hitting you accidentally, Papyrus!" I called to the skeleton.
"OH, THAT IS FINE. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT. THE GREAT PAPYRUS FORGIVES YOU." Papyrus shouted back over the spikes. There was a puzzle in a H formation with colored X's in between the gaps of the H. I stepped onto an X in the snow and it turned into an O. Tcht! I then jumped and watched it turn back. Tcht! Finding myself extremely amused by the magic, I basically ran in place, watching the flashing x's and O's making a almost purple pattern in the snow. Tcht tcht tcht tcht tcht tcht tcht thct tchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtcht- the puzzle eventually got tired of my shenanigans and forced itself to be a right green O, the spikes ahead de-activating. I stomped angrily in the snow, but only the sound of crushing sky ice reached my ears. The O shifted and launched me across the deactivated spikes like some blasted cartoon, and I face-planted into the snow besides Papyrus.
"WHAT?! HOW DID YOU DEACTIVATE MY TRAP?!" Papyrus exclaimed as I sat up on the soft snow, snorting and coughing on the snow that went up my nose. "AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, IS THERE ANY MORE LEFT FOR ME?!" I blinked and rubbed snow out of my eyes to see Papyrus practically sparkling with hope as he said that. Uh... what was he talking about?
What did you do with the spaghetti? I remembered.
"I left it. I did take a meatball, though. I have to try some of the great Papyrus's cooking before he kicks my butt, y'know." I said with a thumbs up.
"REALLY? WOWIE... YOU RESISTED THE FLAVOR OF MY HOMECOOKED PASTA... JUST SO YOU CAN SHARE THE REST WITH ME?! DO NOT FRET, HUMAN, I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS WILL COOK YOU ALL THE PASTA YOU SHALL EVER WANT! EVEN BEFORE I 'KICK YOUR BUTT'! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH NYEH!" He walked away normally for once. I followed him, and he paused. "MY BROTHER STARTED A SOCK COLLECTION RECENTLY... HOW SADDENING. SOMETIMES I WONDER WHAT HE WOULD DO... WITHOUT SUCH A COOL GUY TAKING CARE OF HIM? NYEH HEH HEH!"
"Sans would be pretty sad without you Papyrus. You two are the same sides of the coin... er, opposite sides of the same coin." I stated, walking by him. He blinked, his face blushing slightly.
"YOU REALLY THINK SO?!" He asked shyly, if yelling can be considered shy.
I nodded with a smile and I eyed the next x and o puzzle in front of me, before stepping onto an x and running in place on top of it at full speed. Tcht tcht tchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtcht
"HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted behind me, nearly making me jump out of my skin. I looked to him... he seemed sheepish? "HM... HOW DO I EXPLAIN THIS... YOU WERE TAKING A LONG TIME NAPPING, SO I UPGRADED THIS PUZZLE BY ARRANGING THE SNOW TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY BODY. UNFORTUNATELY, THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND. NOW THE SOLUTION IS DIFFERENT! AND, AS USUAL, MY LAZY BROTHER IS NOWHERE AROUND. I SUPPOSE WHAT I'M SAYING IS..." He struck a pose, his cave flapping in the wind, "WORRY NOT, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SOLVE THIS CONUNDRUM! THEN WE CAN BOTH PROCEED! ALSO, THIS PUZZLE IS VERY PATIENT COMPARED TO THE OTHER ONE, SO YOU'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT PROPERLY. FEEL FREE TO TRY IT."
I realized I was just wasting energy by stomping on the x's and o's and stopped, stepping back to examine the pattern more carefully. It was huge and I couldn't see any resemblance to Papyrus at all. Maybe I needed to look at it from a bird's eye view. I thought of the game's puzzle but this one was even larger than that.
"Ummm..." I mumbled, walking around the edges. I decided to just go through it. I stepped onto an x and walked forward.
After what felt like hours of trying in minimal winter clothing in the snow, I was pretty frustrated. I tried to jump over some of the o's but the puzzle, by some weird magic, merely threw me back onto the spot I jumped from. There was even one point where all the x's were o's except one point in the middle.
"... Papyrus, can you help me?" I asked reluctantly. Maybe two people could figure this puzzle out, cause I don't think Papyrus himself knew the sol-
"ARE YOU STUMPED, HUMAN?! NYEH HEH HEH! WORRY NOT, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL COME TO YOUR AID." Papyrus walked over to a tree, pulled a lever, and all the x's turned to o's. My eye vaguely twitched as he walked back to me, humming quite happily. I did not remember there being a lever. I should've just asked him sooner and not be half-frozen. I swear there was ice forming on my skin at this point. "IF YOU THINK THIS PUZZLE IS DIFFICULT, YOU WILL HAVE LOTS OF FUN WITH THE NEXT ONE! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus declared, running ahead. I trotted after him, only to see Sans waiting on the other end of the spikes. I paused by him, he looked like he had something to say.
"Nice effort. Looks like you two didn't need my help. Which is great, cause' I like doing absolutely nothing." He said.
"What would've you done if the lever didn't work?" I asked curiously.
"Probably pull the other lever."
"How many levers are there?"
"As many as I want."
I stared at him before shaking my head and moving onwards... to a cliff path. A dangerous drop was to either side of me, and I did my best to stare at the snow and stay as far in the middle as I could. I stopped at one of those accursed bridges without railings over a small but treacherous gap.
"HEY! IT'S THE HUMAN!" Papyrus exclaimed, and I snapped my head up to look at him, my feet freezing into place. "YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE THIS PUZZLE! IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS! YOU SEE THESE TILES?" I looked to the black and white tiles on the other side of the bridge with a... very... large... drop... "WHEN I THROW THIS SWITCH, THEY WILL CHANGE COLOR!" I approached the bridge and got low to the ground, carefully putting a foot on it. I felt heavier, the bridge's wood looked so flimsy, I felt myself struggling to stand, my mind was screaming 'get away from there, you're going to fall!', I was going to die wasn't I? No I'm not, hurry up and cross before Sans laughs at you! I told myself. As I struggled within the grip of fear, the flash of colors caught my attention and I used the distraction to finally cross and stand at the edge of the flashing lights. I was blinded as they started flashing with so many colors that they seemed to turn white, until the beeping stopped and I was met with a straight pink line going through some red squares.
Papyrus was somehow spinning like a top, and Sans backed off as his brother became a whirlwind that quickly spun off out of sight. I stepped onto the pink tiles and approached the red tile, only to smack face-first into an invisible wall. I held my nose, but I didn't feel any blood trickle out. I made my way across the pink colored lights, looking up to Sans, who looked lost in thought. At least he wasn't making fun of me. He faced me when I stopped by him.
"That spaghetti from earlier... it wasn't too bad for my brother. Since he's been taking cooking lessons, he's been improving a lot. I bet if he keeps it up, next year he'll even make something edible." He said, his lighted eye-dots eventually wandering away from me. I took the meatball I took out from earlier and held it up to the light of the white sky... or glowing rock sky? The meatball glistened in the light. It was still frozen solid.
"Think this'll give me any hitpoints if I defrosted it?" I asked.
"Why not find out for yourself?" Sans replied.
"Oh, yeah. I wonder if the merchant has a microwave..." A gust blew, and though I was kinda used to the cold my skin got some goosebumps from that. My nose was starting to drip. I sniffed and waved to Sans, who looked too out of it to reply. I continued onwards, staying in the middle of the thankfully wider path. I could see a forest, and towers and loops of wormlike snow. Walking closer, I could see some dog heads made out of snow glistening. I kept on the path and admired the sculptures, and heard a faint snoring coming from a sentry station. I walked up to it to see the armored fluffy Lesser Dog peacefully sleeping.
"Good job." I whispered, and left him in peace. Between the many snowdog sculptures, a cow-like monster wandered and admired them. I waved and they waved back, but I didn't want to say anything to wake up the dog. A flicker and a warm feeling made my head turn towards a glowing golden star underneath an arch of snow. I reached out and touched it, closing my eyes to feel the sensation of my aching nose fading away. I held onto it for a little bit, looking around as my imagination turned the snow dog sculptures into dozens of cute white shiba dogs. I was reminded of my own dog, Scout, and how we used to play in the snow together- well, we would play in the snow once I got out of this place somehow. Snow was cold but kind; unpleasant if it touches the skin, but soft and cushioning your fall if you slip.
I sighed and pushed on. Quickly, I found another x and o puzzle. This one had strategically placed ice, and a gap between the edge of the cliff ahead and an ice-covered cave. I tested the ice with my foot, only to be pulled forward by an unknown force. I tripped and body flopped onto an snow X, turning it into an O, the snowman's carrot flying out of my shirt. Tcht!
I stood back up, silently cursing the skeleton brothers in my head as I picked up the lukewarm carrot and stuffed it back into my shirt. I looked at the other x's and o's and found the solution easily, but I had to reset the map... I shifted from foot to foot and found an upraised rock. My core tightened as I braced myself, and leapt onto the ice. I stepped onto the rock and it sunk under my foot, but the mysterious force pulled me further than the rock... over the cliff.
I swore in a strangled voice as the sensation of falling a great height overwhelmed everything, and I didn't care that the snow would cushion my fall. The snow below couldn't possibly be deep enough; this was like falling from a fifth story building! I screamed and shut my eyes, curling up. Responding to my peril, I could feel my soul pulsing and making my body faster and my mind sharper, but what good would that do?! My heart thundered in my chest, my feet softly touching the snow. I peeked through my eyelids a little, wondering if my awareness was so fast that time was slowing. The first thing I noticed was a snow sculpture of Papyrus and a mound of snow, and then the red that covered Papyrus's cape, made up Sans's label, and the light that reflected off the snow. My feet were glowing, my black shoes encased in a red aura. My soul had appeared, floating an inch from my chest. As my adrenaline turned into wonder, I was abruptly dropped into the snow, my red soul sinking back into my chest. I lied there, looking up at the sparkling icicles hanging off the cliff, and then sat up to look at my feet. They were their normal black, covered in snow.
"Dang... I can fly...?" I said softly.
A/N:
anon: Cool, it's nice to have another reader. Thanks for giving this one a try!
Aurawarrior13: We must have a lot in common then, cause this girl is me! I initially had her be terrified of Sans, but after writing that scene afterwards out it didn't seem to... flow correctly? I just kept getting stuck, so I changed my approach. Right on!
Sakura Kishi: YOUR ENTHUSIASM FILLS ME WITH DETERMINATION!
: Thanks! We'll see whom she meets next~!
ChillingShadow: I try my best to keep everyone in character. I'm watching a lot of playthroughs and looking at wikis ^-^ It's more fun that way!
Connie Hooper: Thank you!
K: I'm trying my best not to godmod myself into something like a Mary Sue, to have realistic interactions. It's a different experience, kinda like being in a nonlucid dream since well, this character is me. Maybe over time, this me in the story will develop into a separate character than me? That's my hope.
